Bowling ball lifting apparatus



March 25, 1952 M. PATTERSON 2,590,644

BOWLING BALL LIFTING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 8, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET1 FIG.\

2 INVENTOR MOREHEAD PATTERSON.

ATTORNEY March 25, 1952 M. PATTERSON BOWLING BALL LIFTING APPARATUS 2SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Jan. 8, 1948 INVENTOR MOREHEAD PATTERSON.

l BY W0- 4 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICEBOWLING BALL LIFTING APPARATUS Morehead Patterson, New York, N. Y.,assignor to American Machine and Foundry Company, a corporation of NewJersey Application January 8, 1948, Serial No. 1,186

19 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a bowling pin setting machine and moreparticularly to apparatus for separating a bowling ball from the bowlingpins in the pit at the back end of a bowling alley and returning theball to the players at the other end of the bowling alley.

The hanging type of cushion or bumper such as shown in Patent 2,389,643granted to G. J. Schmidt on November 27, 1945, is standard equipment inmost bowling alleys and hence is preferred by many bowling alleyoperators to stop a thrown bowling ball. In some automatic bowlingmachines it has been found desirable to employ a single bar for liftingbowling balls out of the pit of a bowling alley instead of a double baror cradle. Due to the irregular surface and bul mg contour of thesurface of this type of bumper, it does not afford a reliable supportagainst which a bowling ball can be pushed upwardly by a single bar balllift.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a single bar balllift which can be used in a bowling alley employing a conventionalhanging bumper in the back end of a bowling alley.

A further object is to provide a bowling ball lift which consists of asingle bar and a flat guide member which is lowered in front of thebumper to provide a flat surface against which a bowling ball may bepushed upwardly out of the pit by the bar.

Another object is to provide a single bar ball lifting device which willeffect a transfer of the bowling ball from the single bar ball lift to aball return runway by changing the center of gravity of the bowling ballfrom one side of the bar to the other side of the bar.

A further object is to provide a single bar ball lift which will elevatethe bowling balls out of the pit of a bowling alley and transfer themonto a transverse runway located in front of the ball lifting bar.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as thedescription of the particular physiplication is particularly well suitedfor use with an automatic bowling pin setting machine such for exampleas that shown in copending patent application S. N. 636,737, filedDecember 22, 1945, by G. J. Schmidt, now Patent No. 2,578,319, issuedDecember 11, 1951.

My ball lifting apparatus is positioned over the pit located at the rearend I!) of a bowling alley into which bowling pins and bowling ballsfall. The sides of the pit are enclosed by kick back walls 12 and I4.Suitable channels l6 and 18 are mounted in each of the kick back wallsi2 and i4 and guide the rollers 20 and 22 mounted on each end of theball lifting bar 24.

The bottom of the pit is inclined slightly towards the rear pf thebowling alley and consists of a supporting floor 26 and a wide belt 28which travels over rollers 30 and 32 across the floor 26 in thedirection indicated by the arrow towards the back of the pit. The roller32 is fixedly mounted on a shaft 34 on which is also fixedly mounted asprocket 36. Sprocket chain 38, drives sprocket 3B and receives drivingmovement from the sprocket 49. The sprocket 40 is fixedly mounted on theshaft of a conventional gear reduction mechanism 42 which is driven bymeans of a suitable motor 44.

The belt 28 may be either continuously driven or may be driven at suchtimes as there are pins or bowling balls in the pit. The inclination andmovement of the belt 28 towards the rear of the bowling alley causesbowling balls and pins supported thereon to roll and move towards therear end of the pit. This movement as well as the momentum of the ballon rebounding after striking the bumper 834 causes the bowling ball toroll over the bar 24 and come to rest as shown in Figure 1 between thebar 24 and the plate 46.

At the ends of the bar 24 are bar holders 48 and 56 to which areattached cables 52 and 54. The cables 52 and 54 are fixed to and trainedover sheave pulleys 56 and 58. The sheave pulleys 56 and 53 are fixedlymounted on the shaft 60.

Rotary movement is imparted to the sheave pulleys 56 and" 58 through apinion 62 which is fixedly mounted on the shaft 60. The pinion 62 isrotated first in one direction and then in the other direction by meansof a rack 64 which is held in engagement with the pinion 62 by means ofa suitable guide roller 68. This structure may be similar inconstruction and operation to that shown in copending application of G.J Schmidt, S. N. 636,737 filed December 22, 1945.

The vertically movable plate 46 is guided by links 68 and 10 which arepivotally connected to suitable lugs 12 and I4 forming part of plate 46.The other ends of links 68 and I are pivotally connected to lugs I6 andI8 which are fixedly attached to a suitable frame such as that of anautomatic pin setting machine. Plate 46 is elevated by means of cables80 and 82 which are fixedly attached to and trained over sheave pulleys84 and 86.

Sheave pulleys 84 and 86 fixedly mounted on the ends of shaft 88 arerotated first in one direction and then in the opposite direction bymeans of pinion 90 which is also fixedly mounted on shaft 88. Rack 92 isheld in engagement with pinion 90 by means of a suitable guide roller94.

Racks 64 and 92 are connected respectively to operating arms 86 and 68which are pivotally mounted on the shaft I80. Each arm 96 and 98 carriesa cam follower I02 and I04 respectively which follows one of the closedcam tracks I08 and I08 of a cam IIO fixedly mounted on shaft I I2. Spurgear I I4 which is also fixedly mounted on the shaft H2, is driven bymeans of a pinion II6 through a conventional solenoid actuated clutchII8 from the sprocket I20. The sprocket I is driven continuously bymeans of sprocket chain I22 from a suitable source of power (not shown)such as an electric motor. Solenoid I24, which engages and disengagesthe clutch H8 is energized through the control box I28 when the balldetector such as photo electric cell I26, is actuated by a thrownbowling ball.

When the ball detector I26 has been actuated, the guide plate 46 islowered and the bar 24 raised by their respective sheave pulleys. As thebowling ball is pushed upwardly against the plate 46 by the lifting baror roller 24, it has a tendency to roll. The bar guides I6 and I8 andthe ball guide 46 are constructed so that they converge together attheir upper ends to cause the center of gravity of the bowling ball tobe moved forward from one side of the single bar ball lifting roller 24to the other side as the ball reaches its uppermost position of travel.As shown in Fig. 1, the guide member 46 is slightly bent at its upperend 41 to assist in thus moving the bowling ball. The ball which ispushed from one side to the other side of the single bar ball lift 24 isdischarged onto the transverse ball return runway consisting of supportsI30 and I32 from which it rolls onto the longitudinal runway which runsalong the length of the bowling alley.

In back of the plate 46 is hung a conventional pin and ball cushion orbumper I34. The cushion I34 has eye bolts I 36 fixed to its upper sidewhich are hung on suitable hooks I38 fastened to a suitable frame suchas that of an automatic pin setting machine. In this connection I haveshown how the flights I40 of a pin elevator I42 such as shown incopending patent application of G. J.

Schmidt on a bowling pin setting machine referred to above may belocated behind the bumper 'I34 to elevate the bowling pins P receivedfrom the conveyor belt 28.

It will be noted that the horizontal ball lifting roller 24 is spaced adistance from the lifting plate 46 which is greater than the radius and.

less'than the diameter of a bowling ball. It will further be noted thatthe bumper I34 is spaced a. distance from the belt 28 which is greaterthan the diameter of the body of a bowling pin and "bumper I34 frommoving past the bumper I34.-

4 In this Way the bowling pins are separated from the bowling ball. Itwill be understood that while my invention is particularly well adaptedfor use with an automatic pin setting machine it may also be used as aball return on an alley not employing an automatic pin setting machine.

The operation of my ball lifting apparatus may be briefiy described asfollows: At the time the player is ready to throw his bowling ball theplate 46 is held in raised position by the cables and 82 and the balllifting bar 24 is in its lowermost position as shown in Fig. 1. When theplayer throws his bowling ball, it passes the photo-electric cell I26and strikes against the bumper I34 and then usually rebounds to thefront of the pit. When the ball passes the photoelectric cell I26 thecell closes the cirduit through control box I23 thereby energizing thesolenoid I24.

Solenoid I24, on being energized, engages the clutch II8 thereby causingdriving motion to be imparted through pinion II6 to the driving gear H4.The rotation of the spur gear II4 through the shaft II2 also causes thecam IIO to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow. The rotationof cam IIO causes the cam followers I02 and I04 to follow theirrespective cam tracks I06 and I08. The movement of cam followers I02 andI04 in their respective cam tracks causes the levers 96 and 98 to swingon their common pivot I00.

The traveling ends of the levers 86 and 98 through gear racks 64 and 92to which they are connected rotate the pinions 62 and with which theyengage. The rotation of the pinions 62 and actuates their respectivesheave pulleys 56, 58 and 84, 86 through the shafts 60 and 88 on whichthey are fixedly mounted. The contour of cam track I06 is such that theplate 46 is lowered during the rebound of the bowling ball and is in itslowermost position when the ball travels from the forward end of the pitto the rear end of the pit a second time, due to the inclined positionand movement of belt 28.

In the event a slow ball or a gutter ball is thrown the bowling ball maynot have the usual rebound referred to above. In this case, the bowlingball will be stopped from moving beyond :the bumper I34 because thespacing between the belt 28 and the bumper I34, while greater than thediameter of a bowling pin, is less than the diameter of a bowling ball.The guide plate 46, therefore, will engage when it descends with theside of the bowling ball and thus cause it to move slightly forward.When the link support 68 for the guide plate 46 engages with the stop17, the plate 46 will be in its lowermost position as shown in Fig. 1.Since the distance between the bottom edge of guide plate 46 and thecontinuously traveling belt 23 is greater than the diameter of a bowlingpin, bowling pins are forwarded under the plate 46 and bumper I34 to theflights I40 of the pin elevator I42. The pin elevator I42, which may besimilar to that shown in application of G. J. Schmidt S. N. 636,737referred to above, elevates th pins from the bottom of the pit anddischarges them onto a suitable device (not shown) in an automaticbowling .pin setting machine which positions and places them back on thealley in playing arrangement.

When the bar roller 24 is raised it rolls and pushes the bowling ballupwardly against the guide member 46. Since the channels I6 and I8 arearranged to move the roller 24 towards-the guide member 46 as theroller-24 is lifted upwardly and also because of the bent portion 41 ofthe guide plate 46, the center of gravity of the bowling ball beinglifted by the roller 24 is moved forward from one side to the other sideof roller 24. This causes the bowling ball to roll onto the transverseball return runway i30 and I32 as shown by the arrow in Fig. 1.

As soon as the bowling ball has been discharged onto the transverse ballreturn runway I30 and I32 the plate 45 is raised upwardly in thedirection indicated by the arrow to its uppermost position indicated indotted outline and the ball lifting roller is lowered to the bottom ofthe pit to await being raised again when another bowling ball breaks thelight beam of the photo-electric cell I26.

The invention above described may be varied in construction within thescope of the claims, for. the particular device selected to illustratethe invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. Theinvention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details ofthe structure shown and described.

- What is claimed is:

' 1. Apparatus for removing bowling balls from the pit of a bowlingalley comprising, a ball stopping cushion mounted across the back of thepit of a bowling alley, a member having a vertical rigid surface movabletowards and away from the bowling alley in front of said cushion toprovide a surface on which to roll a bowling ball, a ball elevating barmovable from the bottom of the pit'ofv the bowling alley upwardly infront of said member at a distance therefrom less than the diameter of abowling ball to raise a bowling ball out of the*'pit by supporting samebetween said bar and said vertical surface, and mechanism for loweringand raising said bar to lift the bowling ball out of the pit of thebowling alley.

2. Apparatus for removing bowling balls from the pit of a bowling alleycomprising, a device for moving bowling balls to one side of the pit, avertical plate adapted to be moved towards and away from that side ofthe pit of the bowling alley, a horizontal bar spaced from said plate adistance less than the diameter and greater than the radius of a bowlingball, means for raising said bar to lift a bowling ball between said barand said plate out from that side of the pit of the bowling alley, arunway positioned adjacent said plate and at th upper limit of travel ofsaid bar to receive bowling balls therefrom for return to the bowlingplayer, and means for removing said plate from the pit of said bowlingalley to clear the pit preliminary to the throwing 'of a bowling ball.

3. Apparatus for returning a bowling ball to a player comprising, a pitlocated at one end of a bowling alley, a traveling belt extending acrossthe width of the pit for moving the bowling ball towards one side ofsaid pit to a ball removal station, a plate adapted and arranged: to belowered towards said side of said pit each time a bowling ball is thrownto provide a surface against which to roll a bowling ball out of thepit, and a movable member constrained to travel up and down in front ofsaid plate at a predetermined distance from the face of said plate, saidpredetermined distance being less than the diameter of a bowling ball tocause a bowling ball engaged by said member to be rolled up the face ofsaid plate, and a ball return runway positioned at the uppermost pointof travel to receive bowling balls discharged from said member.

4. A ball elevator for abowling pin setting machine comprising, asubstantially horizontal bar extending transversely across the pit of abowling alley, guide channels for confining each end of the bar to apredetermined up and down path of travel, a guide member spaced fromsaid bar a distance less than the diameter of a bowling ball andextending transversely across the pit of the bowling alley,automatically operated apparatus for moving said guide member apredetermined distance towards and away from the pit of the bowlingalley, and maintaining said guide member stationary when a bowling ballis being lifted, guide supports for limiting said guide member to asubstantially up and down path of travel, a lifting device for elevatingsaid bar to push a bowling ball upwardly between said bar and said guidemember, a ball return runway positioned at the uppermost point of travelof said bar to receive bowling balls elevated by said bar, and adetector responsive to the movement of a thrown ball for actuating saidapparatus and said lifting device to'bring the bar and the guide memberinto coacting relationship and to lift the bowling ball from the bottomof the pit.

5. A ball and pin handling mechanism for use in removing balls and pinsfrom the pit of a bowling alley having a bumper swingingly supported atits upper end at the rear of said pit, said mechanism comprising a pitplatform, apparatus for moving bowling balls and bowling pins from theforward end of said platform to the rear end of said platform, a flatrigid mem her extending transversely across the 'pit, apparatus formoving said flat member in front of said bumper after a bowling ball hasbeen thrown by a player'to provide a surface along which bowling ballscan be pushed and for removing said flat member from its position infront of said bumper after a bowling ball has been discharged onto theball return runway, a single bar for lifting bowling balls out of saidpit upwardly along said flat member, said bar being spaced from saidflat member a distance less than the diameter of a bowling ball,apparatus for raising said bar to elevate a bowling ball out of the pitbetween said bar and said flat member, a ball return runway positionedat the highest level of travel of said bar, and means for moving thebowling ball from the bar to the ball return runway.

6. In a bowling alley having a bumper swingably supported at its upperside and extending across the rear end of the pit of a bowling alley, aball and "pin handling mechanism for use in removing balls and pins fromthe pit of the bowling alley comprising, apparatus for moving bowlingballs and bowling pins from the forward end to the rear end of said pit,a guide member having a flat surface extending across the pit, mechanismfor lowering and raising said guide member in front of said bumper eachtime a bowling ball has been thrown, a stop for limiting the downwardtravel of said guide member to allow a space between the bottom of saidguide member and the pit to allow pins to move towards the rear of saidpit, a single horizontal bar for pushing bowling balls upwardly out ofsaid pit against said guide member, guides for constraining said' bar totravel at a fixed distance from the guide member, and apparatus forraising and lowering said bar each time a bowlingball has been thrown.

7. A ball and pin conveying mechanism foruse in a bowling alley pitcomprising, a pin and ball receiving support located in said pit, adevice for causing bowling balls and pins to be moved towards one sideof said pit support, a member having a flat surface adapted and arrangedto be lowered into said pit along the side towards which said balls andpins are moved each time a bowling ball is thrown, a movable balllifting roller spaced from said flat surface for rolling a ball upwardlyon said surface, mechanism for moving said roller up and down in frontof said flat surface, a ball return runway positioned at the upper limitof travel of said roller, means for moving a bowling ball from saidroller onto said runway, and additional mechanism for raising said fiatsurface out of said pit after said roller has been raised to lift abowling ball out of the pit.

8. A ball handling device for use in removing bowling balls from the pitof a bowling alley having a bumper at the rear of said pit, comprising,amember having a fiat upright surface spaced from and extendingtransversely across the width of said-pit, a single ball lifting barmovable up and down in front of and in a plane parallel to said flatball supporting surface, mechanism actuated by a thrown bowling ball forcausing said flat surface to be lowered into the pit of the bowlingalley, and mechanism actuated by a bowling ball thrown along the alleyfor raising said bar to push a ball up said surface after said surfacehas been lowered into the pit of the bowling alley.

9. A ball handling device for use in removing bowling balls from the pitof a bowling alley having a bumper at the rear of said pit, comprising,a member having a flat ball supporting surface extending transverselyacross the width of said pit, a single ball lifting bar travelling upand down in front of and in a plane parallel to said flat ballsupporting surface, mechanism actuated by a thrown bowling ball forcausing said fiat surface to be lowered into the pit of a bowling alley,mechanism actuated by a thrown bowling ball for raising said bar to pusha ball up said surface after said surface has been lowered into the pitof a bowling alley, a support for said fiat surface constructed andarranged to limit the extent of downward movement of said flat surfaceto allow bowling pins to pass thereunder while preventing bowling ballsfrom passing thereunder, and a support for said bumper constructed andarranged to maintain said bumper at a distance above the alleysufficient to allow bowling pins to pass thereunder but insufficient toallow bowling balls to pass thereunder.

10. In an automatic bowling pin setting machine, apparatus forseparating bowling balls and pins from each other and for removing saidbowling balls out of the pit of a bowling alley comprising, a devicemounted at the floor of said pit for moving bowling balls and pinstowards the rear of said pit, a bumper extending transversely acrosssaid pit for stopping a thrown bowling ball, a support-for holding saidbumper a distance above the floor of said pit to allow bowling pins tobe moved along said floor'towards the rear of said pit under said bumperand to prevent bowling balls from passing under said bumper, a memberhaving a flat surface against which bowling balls may be pushed out ofthe pit, a support for lowering said member in front of said bumper adistance sufficiently short of the bottom of said floor to allow bowlingpins to pass thereunder towards the rear end ofsaid pit and to preventbowling balls from passing under said member, a detecting device fordetecting a thrown bowling ball, a bar for rolling bowling balls up theface of said member, guides constraining said bar to travel upwardly ata fixed distance from said member, and mechanism actuated by saiddetecting device for causing said member to be lowered in front of saidbumper and said bar to be raised to elevate a bowling ball out of thepit of a bowling alley each time a bowling ball is thrown.

11. A bowling ball lifting device for use in separating a ball from pinsin the pit of a bowling alley comprising a ball guide, a single rollerfor lifting bowling balls out of the pit of a bowling alley between saidroller and said ball guide for return to a bowling player, guides forconfining the ends of said roller to a predetermined path of travel at apredetermined distance, from said ball guide, said ball guide having aflat surface bent at its upper end towards the path of travel of saidroller to cause the center of gravity of the bowling ball to graduallyshift from one side of the bar to the other as the ball is lifted out ofthe pit by said bar, means for raising and lowering said roller and aball return runway positioned adjacent the upper limit of travel of saidroller to receive bowling balls pushed to the other side of said roller.

12. Apparatus for use with a bowling alley comprising a stuffed flexiblefaced bumper positioned across the pit of a bowling alley, a memberhaving a flat non-yielding surface, mechanism for moving said member infront of said bumper after a bowling ball is thrown, a bowling balllifting bar spaced from said member and a device for moving said barupwardly to elevate a ball upwardly between said member and said bar, aball return runway positioned adjacent the upper limit of travel of saidbar, and means for moving a ball from said bar onto said ball returnrunway.

13. Apparatus for removing bowling balls from the pit of a bowling alleycomprising, a ball cushion hung across the back of a bowling alley pit,said cushion being spaced from the floor of the bowling alley pit adistance greater than the largest diameter of a bowling pin and lessthan the diameter of a bowling ball, a traveling member for movingbowling balls and bowling pins towards one side of said pit, a pinelevator for removing bowling pins passing under said cushion, avertical fiat rigid member removably positioned in front of saidcushion, a vertically movable horizontal bar spaced from said member adistance greater than the radius and less than the diameter of thebowling ball for rolling the bowling ball up between said flat memberand said bar, and a ball return runway positioned adjacent the upperlimit of travel of said roller for receiving bowling balls elevatedthereby.

14. A ball elevator for a bowling pin setting machine comprising, asubstantially horizontal bar extending transversely across the pit of abowling alley, guide channels confining each end of the bar to apredetermined up and down path of travel, a vertically movable flatmember spaced from said bar and extending transversely across the pit ofthe bowling alley, guides constraining said fiat member to a. verticalpath of travel, mechanism for lifting said bar to elevate a ballupwardly between said bar and said flat member, a device for loweringsaid member toward the pit, means at the upper end of said flat memberfor discharging said ball from said bar onto a ball return runway, and aball detector positioned to detect the movement of a ball into the pit.a control actuated by said detector to start said mechanism. and devicein operation to lower the flat member down to the pit and to raise saidbar to lift a ball from the bottom of the pit to the ball dischargemeans. 1

15. A ball. lifting device for use in separating a ball from pins in abowling alley pit comprising, a vertical wall extending across one sideof said pit, a single horizontal bar spaced a distance from said wallgreater than the radius and less than the diameter of a bowling ball,mechanism for raising and lowering said bar to lift the bowling ballupwardly out of said pit by means of the bar pushing the ball upwardlyalong said wall, means for removing said wall from said pit after abowling ball has been elevated from the pit and for replacing said wallin said pit after a bowling ball has been thrown, and means for reducingthe distance between said bar and wall to cause the center of gravity ofthe bowling ball to shift from one side to the other side of the bar atthe upper part of the wall as the bar reaches its uppermost position oftravel, and a ball return runway located at the uppermost position oftravel of said bar for receiving the bowling ball elevated thereby.

16. In a ball handling device for use in separating balls from pins inthe pit of a bowling alley having a bumper in the rear of said pit, arelatively flat plate against which bowling balls can be pushed upwardlyout of the pit, mechanism for lowering said fiat plate in front of saidbumper when a bowling ball has been thrown by a player, an elongatedhorizontal bar spaced from said plate for pushing a bowling ballupwardly out of said pit along said flat plate, mechanism for movingsaid bar upwardly to elevate a bowling ball and then lowering said barafter the ball has been lifted out of the pit, and mechanism forraising'said flat plate above said bumper after the bowling ball hasbeen elevated.

17. In a bowling alley having a stuffed flexible faced bumper hangingacross the pit, a bowlin ball lifting apparatus for use in separating aball from the pins in the pit of the bowling alley comprising a devicehaving a flat non-yielding surface against which bowling balls may bepushed upwardly out of the pit, mechanism for moving said device infront of said bumper when a bowling player has thrown a bowling ball, asingle ball lifting bar for pushing a ball upwardly out of said pitagainst the flat surface of said device, means for raising and loweringsaid bar, and means for maintaining said device stationary as saidbowling ball is raised upwardly against said device by said bar.

18. Apparatus for removing bowling balls from the pit of a bowling alleycomprising, a hanging cushion positioned across the back of a bowlingalley for absorbing the shock of a thrown bowling ball, a plate havingan inflexible surface adapted and arranged to be lowered in front ofsaid cushion after a bowling ball has been thrown, a ball return runwayfor returning a bowling ballto a player, a ball lifting bar adapted andarranged to be moved upwardly at a spaced predetermined distance lessthan the diameter of a bowling ball in front of said plate to raise abowling ball above the alley between said bar and said plate, and meansfor discharging said bowling ball from said bar onto said runway.

19. A ball elevator for a bowling pin setting machine comprising, asubstantially horizontal bar extending transversely across the pit of abowling alley, guide channels, confining the ends of the bar to apredetermined up and down path of travel, a vertically movable flatmember spaced from said bar and extending transversely across the pit ofthe bowling alley, guides limiting said flat member to an up and downpath of travel, a device for lowering said flat member towards the pitafter a bowling ball has been thrown and for raising said member awayfrom the pit after the REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Davis Feb. 9, 1943 Number

